Forward to Freedom
by darknessatnoon
Summary: My final Doctor Who story. I came up with the idea while studying abroad. In the Soviet Union in the 1980s, a student must stop a device that could lead to disaster.


Forward to Freedom

The sun almost never comes out here.

It seems like the weather in this part of Soviet Union is an endless series of damp weather and grey skies. I was there on a student exchange program along with 6 other Americans, and apart from the weather and language barrier, I was having a great time. The USSR was far from being the "Evil Empire" that the American news said it was.

The others back home thought I was absolutely crazy for doing this. As soon as I learned that I could go to the USSR to study Russian language and politics, I jumped at the chance. My friends at school thought I was being too impulsive (as usual) but this time it paid off. It was a lot of work to get approval and to fill out the paperwork, but I managed. I had spent the past several weeks learning how to speak Russian and about the history of the Soviet Union, especially its leaders. On October 25, we received a notice from the study abroad director: for our semester break, we would be traveling by train from Leningrad, where we were currently living and studying, to Moscow! I was beyond excited.

After an overnight train ride, we reached Moscow on a cool Saturday morning. The first thing I noticed was the calm. Far from the organized chaos of American cities like New York, Moscow had fewer cars because everyone takes public transportation or walks here. After a long walk from the Metro station to our hotel (we were the only foreigners there), I was glad to get to my room and relax for a bit before dinner. I looked out the window onto a great view of a huge silver monument. This, we later learned, was dedicated to Soviet cosmonauts. The next few days were a whirlwind of tours – the Kremlin, Lenin's Mausoleum, Red Square, and the Central Lenin Museum. Everything is named after Lenin here.

Finally, the trip leader announced that thanks to negotiations with the government, and the new perestroika policy, our last three days we would have entirely to ourselves – we could visit whatever historical or cultural sites we wanted to in the city! I was ecstatic. I started my visit by getting more up-and-close with the Cosmonauts monument near our hotel. However, as I reached out to touch the sides of it, a massive flash of light engulfed me and I lost consciousness.

When I awoke, I was in a small metal-sided room. The mosaics on the wall depicting Yuri Gagarin and other cosmonauts told me that I was directly under the monument. A large control panel rose up in front of me. I walked up to the panel and read the control switches and the commands on the screen. All the commands were in Russian, but I could translate most of it. Holy shit, I thought, this thing is a bomb!

I noticed that there was a pattern to the movements on the screen. If I could figure out how to align them properly, then I could disarm the bomb! I just had to hope that what I chose was right or the room – and maybe Moscow as a whole – would be sent to oblivion. After several minutes that felt like the longest of my life, I finally figured out the pattern and pressed the alignment buttons. All the lights on the console suddenly died out. Thank God I had paid attention in Russian class – it had literally saved my life.

All of a sudden another huge flash engulfed me. I was completely frozen - I couldn't move.

A man, dressed in a pinstripe suit and sneakers, came out of the shadows.

"Hello! I'm the Doctor! What's your name?" He sounded British.

"My name is Nadia. What are you doing here?"

"I had heard reports of a Kallarian bomb being here. This isn't Soviet at all, it's extraterrestrial. I had come to try and diffuse it, but it looks like you've already done that. That's brilliant! You're brilliant!"

"Wait a minute. If it's an alien device, why is everything written in Russian?" I asked.

"The device automatically changes appearance to blend in with the environment it's in. This includes the controls – the Kallarians have a gift for understanding almost any language. The freezing is a defense mechanism."

I suddenly wondered, "Is there anything that can get me unfrozen? I will not stay here forever!"

"I am a doctor – I'll save you!" he said with a smile.

He said it like this happened all the time. Before I went to Russia, I might have just let him save me. But since I've been in this country by myself with almost no one else that I know, I've learned to be self-reliant. We had spent many class sessions learning about Vladimir Lenin, the first Soviet leader. His determination and strength had always inspired me – no matter how hard things got, he never stopped moving forward. I did not need this stranger to save me! With all of my remaining strength, I cried out "Вперед*!"

All of a sudden, the hold on me collapsed with a flash of red light and a roar, like that of a thunderstorm. I had freed myself!

Just before I could turn around, the Doctor asked me, "Do you want to come with me? Zipping about time and space, doing this kind of thing?"

I thought about it for a moment. He made it sound like everyone jumped at the chance to do it. Well, not me. I had learned to love the Soviet Union, and I wasn't about to let this man take charge of my life. What if he brought me back to the wrong country or time period?

"I'm sorry, Doctor, but the answer is no. "До свидания^." I told him.

Without waiting for a reply, I made my way back to the surface. Back to Redland and my future.

* Russian for "Forward!"

^Russian for Goodbye

3


End file.
